Portable Demons
Portable Demons
Original Text
Alexandra Leggat, This is me since yesterday (Toronto: Coach House Books, 1999). PS8573 .E4755 T44 1998 Robarts Library
2in an old movie house in Times Square
3I approached her with condolences
4and slowly coerced her out of there
5I walked her to a warm home
6and fed her food a mother would
7I laid her in a fresh made bed
8and sat by her side while she slept
9through broken dreams
10she spoke of carefree moments
11with men she’d never met
12she threw her arms in the air
13at the irony of dying all her life
14and still never having left
15I held her in my shaky arms
16knowing that if she woke to find me
17cradling her like a baby
18she’d cackle at our weakness
19and push me bitterly away
20I awoke to the ghost of Dorothy Parker
21eating Corn Flakes in my backyard
22the morning paper ripped to shreds
23by her cutting retorts
24about the hapless writing in print today
25and I knew
26she was here to stay
Notes
1] Dorothy Parker: popular American poet (1893-1967), renowned for her ascerbic, self-denigrating wit. Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
Copyright © Alexandra Leggat and used by permission of the poet. Authorization to republish this poem must be obtained from her in writing.